Environmental Legislations and EMS Standards
Impact to Stakeholders
Introduction
EQA Amendment 2012 – General Comments and Implications
Highlights from EMS Survey
Impact to Stakeholders and Next Step
May 2013 2
Act A636 - EQ (Amendment) Act 1985: gazetted on 9th Jan 1986
Act A953 - EQ (Amendment) Act 1996: gazetted on 1st Aug 1996
Act A1030 - EQ (Amendment) Act 1998: gazetted on 1st July 1998
Act A1102 - EQ (Amendment) Act 2001: gazetted on 28th June 2001
Act A1315 - EQ (Amendment) Act 2007: gazetted on 30th Aug 2007
Act A1441 - EQ (Amendment) Act 2012: gazetted on 16th Aug 2012
May 2013 4
EQ (Appeal Board) Regulations 2003 EQ (Control of Emission from Motorcycles)
Regulations 2003 EQ (Dioxin and Furan) Regulations 2004 EQ (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005 EQ (Control of Petrol and Diesel Properties)
Regulations 2007 EQ (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009 EQ (Sewage) Regulations 2009 EQ (Control of Solid Waste from Transfer Station
and Landfill) Regulations 2009
May 2013 5
EQ (Declared Activities) (Open Burning) Order 2003
EQ (Prescribed Conveyance) (Scheduled Wastes) Order 2005
EQ (Delegation of Powers) Order 2005
May 2013 6
Customs (Prohibition of Import) Order 1998 Customs (Prohibition of Export) Order 1998
Exclusive Economic Zone Act, 1984 Fisheries Act 1985
Land Conservation Act 1960 National Forestry Act 1984 National Land Code 1965 National Parks Act 1980
Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 Sabah Conservation of Environment (Prescribed Activities)
Order 1999 Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment (Prescribed
Activities) Order 1994 Waters Act 1920
etc.
May 2013 7
Definition
Members of the EQ Council
EIA & EIA Report
Environmental Fund
Enforcement & Prosecution
Regulations
May 2013 9
Competent Person vs Qualified Person ◦ if you are qualified, does it mean you are competent ?
Competence ◦ one of the EMS requirements
◦ need to define criteria for person carrying out activities specified in Section 49A
May 2013 10
Terms of reference (TOR) for members
Industry representation ◦ Subsection (2) (o): are SMEs represented ?
◦ Subsection (2) (r): does it include industry or trade association ?
◦ What about service sector ?
May 2013 11
Appoint qualified person to conduct EIA and submit EIA report
Give responsibility and accountability to qualified person on the ◦ conduct of EIA
◦ recommendations in EIA report
Increase fine from 100K to 500K
Issue prohibition order/stop work order
May 2013 12
Environmental Fund Committee ◦ additional two members from EQ Council
Application of the fund ◦ not just for research purpose, but also for study,
environmental audit or any related activity
May 2013 13
Power to carry out investigation and arrest without warrant
Statement made by witness/accused may be used as evidence in Court
Power to require attendance of any person acquainted with case
Improvement in procedure for forfeiture, disposal and release of seized items
Power to have access to computerised data and to inspect/examine documents and other items
Reward to and protection of informers
May 2013 14
Power of the Minister to make regulations related to ◦ EIA
◦ competent person
◦ competency of training providers
Contravention of regulations ◦ fine ≤ 100K or ≤ 2 year jail or both
May 2013 15
May 2009 17
Empirical investigation on ISO 14001 EMS implementation in Malaysia
Areas examined ISO 14001 ◦ implementation challenges
◦ experience
◦ impact on organisations environmental performance
Rationale ◦ little are known on the status of ISO 14001
◦ very few empirical studies carried out based on Malaysian scenario
17
May 2009 18
Motivations for seeking ISO 14001 certification Problems encountered Strategies employed in EMS implementation Benefits gained Limitations of EMS implementation Impact on performance: regulatory
compliance, environmental and business Other challenges ◦ environmental regulations ◦ enforcement ◦ capacity building ◦ government support/incentive ◦ national environmental policy
Conducted in Dec 2005/Jan 2006
Sample size: 500
Response rate: 31.6%
Respondents profile ◦ ISO 14001 certified organisations
◦ Majority were foreign owned multinationals involved in manufacturing sector
◦ Most have achieved ISO 14001 certification > 5 years
May 2013 19
19
EMS Issues Examined Response
Top two reasons for adopting ISO 14001
Regulatory compliance Image enhancement
Main problems encountered
Suppliers and contractors were not aware on environmental issues
Constraints in financial and human resources
Common strategies employed
Obtained commitment from all levels of employees including top management
Focused on • training to increase understanding on
environmental issues and EMS • on site implementation to ensure
effectiveness
May 2013 20
Majority achieved regulatory compliance and environmental performance improvement
Some gained financial savings
Slight improvement in profitability
sales revenue
customer orders
market share
May 2013 21
EMS Issues Examined Large Enterprises SMEs
Driving factor Directive from CEO Customer requirements
Problem faced Financial and skilled human resources
Financial and skilled human resources
Strategy employed Training or employees to increase understanding and knowledge in environmental issues
Need extra efforts to communicate with and educate employees
Benefits gained Improved management of environmental aspects and relationship with the local communities
Meeting customer requirements
Limitation Some savings gained EMS implementation was costly
Performance - environmental and business
Slight improvement in the performance
Slight improvement in the performance
May 2013 22
In general, certified organisations
felt that environmental regulations were adequate
were neutral on issues related to ◦ effectiveness of enforcement
◦ progress of capacity building
◦ adequacy of government support/incentive
◦ awareness on environmental policy
May 2013 23
Mechanism to enforce and implement the regulations was lacking due to ◦ inadequate manpower, competency, infrastructure,
guidelines and monitoring
Enforcement was viewed as ineffective due to ◦ perceived unfriendly attitude and lack of experience
among the officers
◦ non-uniformity in enforcement policies
◦ lack of control on illegal environmental activities that have occurred
May 2013 24
Below expectation due to ◦ lack of expertise in certain areas
◦ overlapping of roles and responsibilities
◦ unclear communication channel
◦ difficulty in getting environmental information
Very few organisations were aware of the national environmental policy
May 2013 25
Inadequate in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability
Results were not transparent due to the differences in policies of some government agencies
May 2013 26
It reflects customer requirements and in turn, help organisations to demonstrate regulatory compliance and good corporate image
International market demands higher environmental standards
Relevant agencies responsible for SMEs to consider financial and human resources issues to assist SMEs in financing environmental improvement projects and providing skilled resources
Be more proactive in keeping up with the current market trend and be prepared ahead of their competitors in meeting future environmental requirements
May 2013 27
Government agencies responsible for the environment should promote and encourage organisations to adopt ISO
14001
review outdated environmental regulations
provide guidelines and infrastructure
improve enforcement policies and speed of respond to industries
focus on capacity building to produce competent work force
increase public and corporate awareness on the National Environmental Policy
May 2013 28
May 2013 30
Allocate budget
Train personnel
(new/existing)
Source for
qualified/competent
person
Revise and update
documentation
Communicate to
affected personnel
Review current
system
May 2013 31
Management of
Change (MOC)